Meet Jack Panella's Sister

Ann Marie and Jack Panella, brother and sister 

Superior Court Judge Jack Panella invited me to a lecture about lynching last night. Maybe he was trying to tell me something. He and Northampton County Judge Leonard Zito were the event sponsors of a terrific presentation by Mark Curriden, co-author of Contempt of Court. That's a book about a turn-of-the-century lynching that ultimately led to the one and only time our Supreme Court has ever conducted a criminal trial. Curriden spoke to a group of seventy people at Lafayette College's Kirby Hall of Civil Rights. The Boys and Girls Club of Easton also hosted the event, and Executive Director Dean Young manned the door. I tried to slip by, but got caught and had to cough up $5. After the riveting story, I also bought the book

In addition to District Judge candidates Antonia Grifo and Tim Prendergast, Easton Democratic activists Matt Munsey and April Niver were there. But the biggest treat for me was finally getting to meet Jack's sister, Ann-Marie Panella. She is a long-time Palmer Township Supervisor, which is one of the best-run local governments in the Lehigh Valley. When I asked her about that last night, she had nothing but praise for her fellow Supervisors. "We always try to do the right thing," she told me.

Panella was a power house in the private sector, working as VP for Human Resources for MCS Industries. But she gave that up recently for a job at the Children's Home in Easton. "I love it," she tells me, bragging that she was bringing some of these children to last night's lecture. And she appeared to enjoy herself thoroughly with her wards, who wanted to go home with her.

Judge Panella and his sister agreed to pose for a picture even though, as he pointed out, neither of them is running for anything this year.